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What is the difference between an English Language degree and Linguistics degree?

I'm thinking of going for an English Language degree but a linguistics degree looks very similar. I'm a bit confused as to what the differences between them are.

Also, if I was to do an English Language or linguistics degree, what career paths can I get into?
Reply 1
Become an English teacher
Original post by tasneem288
I'm thinking of going for an English Language degree but a linguistics degree looks very similar. I'm a bit confused as to what the differences between them are.

Also, if I was to do an English Language or linguistics degree, what career paths can I get into?


Basically, English Language is the study of the four main ways in which we communicate; speaking, listening, writing and reading in everyday life. So you'd study things about how sexuality defines language, why men and women speak differently, how we interpret language through different mediums such as music or TV, rhetoric theories on writing or reporting journalism to analysing how language is used in literature such as books and magazines. You analyse language in which its communicated. This is more theoretical.

Linguistics is the scientific study of language which deals with sounds, functions, rules and meaning that all govern that language. So things like phonetics, phonology, morphology, pragmatics, lexis, semantics, grammar and syntax are fields within linguistics. This is more empirical, in terms of you have data, you test it to find a similar pattern or result of an occurrence in language.

In terms of career, it's as open ended as a History, Geography, Law, Literature, Politics, etc. degrees are. It just depends what you want to do. You could go into teaching, you could go into forensic linguistics, copy-editor, columnist/journalist, speech language therapist, etc.
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by The Empire Odyssey
Basically, English Language is the study of the four main ways in which we communicate; speaking, listening, writing and reading in everyday life. So you'd study things about how sexuality defines language, why men and women speak differently, how we interpret language through different mediums such as music or TV, rhetoric theories on writing or reporting journalism to analysing how language is used in literature such as books and magazines. You analyse language in which its communicated. This is more theoretical.

Linguistics is the scientific study of language which deals with sounds, functions, rules and meaning that all govern that language. So things like phonetics, phonology, morphology, pragmatics, lexis, semantics, grammar and syntax are fields within linguistics. This is more empirical, in terms of you have data, you test it to find a similar pattern or result of an occurrence in language.

In terms of career, it's as open ended as a History, Geography, Law, Literature, Politics, etc. degrees are. It just depends what you want to do. You could go into teaching, you could go into forensic linguistics, copy-editor, columnist/journalist, speech language therapist, etc.


Thank you! This helps a lot!

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